Metallic packing ring for locomotive piston rods and the like



Nov. 2, 1943. w, PRICEv JR 2,333,196

METALLIC PACKING RING FOR LOCOMOTIVE PISTON RODS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 24, 1941 Patented Nov. 2, 1943 METALLIC "PACKING RING-iron LOCOM-' TIVE, PISTO'N'RODS' AND THE LIKE Joseph WV,v Price,'Jr.; J enkintown; Pa.,'r.=assignor to:

The United States .Metallicracking v Gompany Philadelphia, Pa a corporation-of Pennsyl-w l vama Application December 24, 194' Serial 'No;--i24;257 f 1 Claim.

This invention relates -'to 'metallicpacking rings for-piston rods or' any generetllymomparable movable-mechanical elements which pass through a stufiing box the purpose of which is to maintain a pressuredifierential on="opp0site sides or to confine a-fiuid such as steam-0n one side without"interfering= with the movement of the element; It is thus particularlydirected to the provision of a novel metallic packing ring for steam engine 'stufling boxes of that type in which a plurality of-cooperative arcuate sections surround "thepiston' rod to prevent the escape of steam from the engine cyl-inderi Metallic packing rings of this general character have been i'n'more or less general use for some time, one being illustrated and'described in U. S. Letters Patent 1;452,159"issued April 17," 1923, toGeorge C. Jerome: "That ring, as will be evident from examination of the patent, is made in three sections each'adapted-to"subtend a central-angle at thering axis of approximately 120 and themeeting faces of adj acentsections correspond to interfittingeccentric arcs and assist in keeping-the stufiing box fluid and-steam tight despite wear through use. Such packing rings are customarily-shipped by-the' manufacturer with the 'severalsections'temporarily -fastened together bysolden between their adjacent has constituted a serious 'objection to soldering the ringsections together in this way.- Perhaps a more serious objection, however; resides in fact that'although the-layers of solder-between the sections are verythin, due allowance-must be made when boring -thering to' compensate for their Subsequentremovaland consequent constriction 0f theinner diameter-of the ring when assembled as awholes" Not only is'it'difllcult to theoreticallydeterminet in advance-just what this allowance should be; since it is impossible to accurately measure the thickness of the solder layers, but even if a theoretical determination be reached and the ring bored in accordance therewith; "that is,'-'-to a greater-"diameter than the diameter oftharod; the mbJin-sectione even then willnot accurately fit the' rod butrwfllfond crown bearings thereorig as they were aetw ally bored on-a slightly 'larger radius-than that of the rod; and" thus 'permit a certain amount of leakage past the-ring. 0n the'other 'liand, if the ring-when soldered together is" boredsmaller than or to the exact diameterbf'the rod,- leak age 5 will occur between the ends of the-sections when they are'assembled*on the rod-after the solder is removed; -"Yetinsplteof'these consider ations itis' essential-that the' ring sections be the ring canbe properly chucked'arrd'bored as'a whole; It is thereforea primarymbjettbt my invention to provide "a novel manner of" unitin'g-'-the ring sectionswith solder-in such a-yvay that while they are suitably held togeth'ei' for boring there is no necessity for makingany allowance for subsequent-"change" ofzbore diameter "as theremoval "of the solder after boring--'in "no*"way changes 'the"size"of" the ringas"'a whole"and"; moreover," can: be-very readily and quickly er fected'soas to separate thesections preparatory to assembling them upon thero'dt' Other' objectsfpurposes 'and"advantages of the invention :will more fully appear "from the'iol lowing description of an "embodiment" illustrated in the accompanying drawin'g'inwhich Fig. ILisan axial elevationiof a'pa'cking rlngg constructed inaccordan-ce withttheiinventiorr;"' t Fig. 21s a side elevation :thereofpartlyf in radialse'ction' onfline 2- 2 in. Fig.1?

Fig. 3. is a view corresponding to l'tbut showing only oneoftheseveral sections Scum prisedilh the ring illustratedin -that figure?" Fig. 4' is. a'sectional"vi'ew .ona smaller scale of a steam enginecyhnder"stuifing'box include ing the packing ring illustratediin'th'e preceding figures.

In the' several "figures" like. characters" are :used to designate thelsame parts,

' Referring. now; more particularly to the drawing, it will be understood that "while Figs. rand 2 illustraterthe ring as it,may appear ,prion tofinal" are more intimately rela'ted'to its conditionatterboring,I have not sattemptedlto illustrate the.

or the like, as illustrated in the drawing comprises a plurality of identical sections as for example I, I, I" which when assembled together form a ring having a generally cylindrical base portion B and an inwardly tapering or conical portion C the base portion being preferably grooved as at 2 for the reception of the usual garter spring G which assists in'holding the Sections on the rod when assembled thereon. As best shown in Fig. 3, each section has inner and to the ringaxis against a split sliding plate 28 outer coaxial surfaces 4 and 5, a convex outer 7 end surface 6 and a concave inner end surface I adapted to engage the convex outer end surface of the adjacent section, the intersection of the convex end surface 6 and inner peripheralsurface 4 forming a feather edge 8. Up to this point, therefore, the ring is of generally similar construction to that shown in the aforesaid Jerome patent, 1,452,159, and requires no further description. Instead, however, as in that ring, of the outer peripheral surface 5 of th section being extended on its normal arc until it intersects the concave inner end surface I in a feather edge substantially the reverse of that at the other end of the section, in accordance with my invention the said outer surface is quite sharply rounded off as at It] for a short distance rearwardly of its extremity so that a rather blunt point II is formed by its intersection with the adjacent concave inner end surface, with the result that when the sections areassembled a relatively shallow groove or depression I2 extending axially across thering as a whole is formed between each of theroundedofi surfaces I0 and the outer portion of the convex end surface of the abutting section and, again in accordance with the invention, these grooves are filled with solder or like fusible material I5 at the time the ring is manufactured so as to hold the sections temporarily but firmly together.

It will be observed that no solder whatever is introduced between the overlapping portions of the sections and the latter inter-fit exactly astheyare intended to do when the ring is po-' siti'onedon the rod. On the other hand, the solder I5 in thegrooves I2 holds the sections in proper relation as'a unit so the ring as a whole can be readily'chucked and bored out to fit the rod without having to make any allowance whatsoever' for its constriction after the solder i removed. The solder. removal operation, moreover,

is .very readily accomplished after the ring has been bored by melting the solder off with a blow torch and it is only essential to see that no'traces or" it remain on that very small portion of the outer extremitiesof the surfaces 5 of the sections to which it was previously adherent; the fact that some trace of it may remain on the rounded surfaces I0 of the segments is, of course, immaterial since under no conditions do these surfaces interfitwith or have any sliding action with respect to any other surfaces.

. Fig. 4 shows the ring of my invention assembled in a stuffing box of a usual construction. frequently employed with locomotive piston rods and brief reference thereto may not be'out of place.

The ring and other parts in'the stufling box are held therein by a gland I9 secured to the box' proper alignment of the spring. The preventer is held in place by contact with a retainer shell 23 which provides a receptacle for the packing ring and for retainer shell half pieces 24 which present a concave conical surface 25 bearing against the convex conical portion C of the ring and making a steam-tight joint 'with'it. The sections of the ring, yieldingly 'held together about the rod by garter spring G in the grooves 2, bear with their outer flat end faces 21 normal which is thus embraced between the packing ring and thegland I9 and is held in assembled relation'aboutthe rod by another garter spring 29 lying in a circumferential groove 30 in the plate.

From the foregoing description it will be evident thatmy packing ring is fitted about the piston rod partly within the retainer half pieces and in tight engagement with the split sliding plate and forms therewith a completely steamtight joint at the stuffing box, and that it affords greabfacility for being accurately fitted to the rod while being capable, through relative axial and circumferential movement in the retainer half pieces, of automatically taking up wear of either the ring or the rod to preserve the impermeableness of the joint throughout a long period.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of the invention which I consider particularly suited to use for packing steam locomotive piston rod stufiing boxes, it will be appreciated that changes may be'made in the form, construction and arrangement of 'its several parts, in their'relation toeach other and/or to other parts of-the mechanism with which they are associated; that packing rings embodying the inventionare well suited to use with other reciprocating rods than those used in steam engines and that these and other changes and modifications in the practice or utilization of the invention will consequently readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be made if desired without departing from its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claim. Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire/to protect by; Letters Patent of the, United States: n

7 As an article of manufacture adapted for production of a metallic packingring of the character described, a blank comprising a plurality of substantially identical interfitting sections having end surfaces in contact throughout their areas and adapted-to slide on each other when the ring is assembled about a piston rod to thereby close the ring about the latter, one extremity of each section being rounded off and defining with the proximate outer end surface on the adjacent section a groove extending acrossthe outer periphery of the ring, and metal of a lower melting point than: the metal of the sections'in each groove and completely confined to the same and joining the sections together, the size of the groove and the area of the walls thereof being 

